While the general climate in the Republic of Tunisia may be exceedingly warm, the economic climate has certainly been pleasant since the start of 2018. Recent statistics have indicated rising exports and improvement in the performance of several areas, especially the tourism sector that saw a 38% increase in revenue in the first three months of 2018.
This was stated by Prime Minister Youssef Chahed while chairing the National Conference on Boosting Jobs at the City of Culture in Tunis recently.
Despite the importance of the growth rate recorded during 2018 (2.5% in the first quarter and 3% in the second quarter according to forecasts) and the stability of the unemployment rate (15.4%), efforts must continue to fight against unemployment, boost investment and consolidate economic growth through the promotion and improvement of the investment climate and business so that companies can invest and contribute to the creation of permanent jobs, he added.
Informing about the 2019 budget law, Chahed added that focus will be over the next three years on reducing taxes on productive, operational and exporting companies in the fields of industry, technology and communication to encourage them to create jobs. Hence, the budget will not include additional corporate taxes.
The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of security, political, social and fiscal stability for companies, stressing the need to move from the cyclical tax imposed to solve the fiscal situation prone to the crisis to a growth tax model that aims to encourage businesses to increase investment and recruitment.
The Premier pointed out that major difficulties persist in the public finances and that the government must assume its responsibility in this respect, through several measures including the consolidation of active labour market policies like the programmes “new generation of entrepreneurs”, “Dignity Contract” and “Forsati” which help guide higher graduates to find jobs.
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He underlined the importance of the success stories that were presented during this meeting of which some authors who were jobseekers have become entrepreneurs and managed to achieve a turnover of two million dinars in two years.
On the occasion, the Prime Minister submitted 14 specifications to 14 new beneficiaries of the “new generation of entrepreneurs” programme